Getting your 5 A DAY is easy. There are plenty of ways to add more fruit and vegetables to your everyday eating habits.
Here are some ideas to get you started:
- At breakfast, add fruit to cereal, porridge or lower-fat yoghurt. Try a handful of berries or a chopped banana. Add mushrooms or tomatoes to scrambled eggs.
- Frozen fruit and veg count towards your 5 A DAY. It only takes a couple of minutes to microwave some frozen peas, mixed vegetables or mini corn on the cob.
- Canned fruit and veg count too. It’s healthier to choose fruit canned in juice rather than sugary syrup, and veg canned in water without added salt or sugar.
- It’s easy to add fresh, frozen or canned fruit and veg to meals. Sprinkle sweetcorn or pineapple chunks on top of a thin-based pizza, or liven up soups and sauces with a handful of kidney beans, peas or sweetcorn.
- Add fruit and veg to your favourite meals. Try adding chopped carrots to bolognese sauce, sprinkle chopped red peppers on your pasta, or mix veg such as peas into mashed potato to make it even tastier. Add tomatoes to your omelette or mushrooms to your next stir-fry.
- Add some crunch to your sandwiches with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber or grated carrots.
- Sticks of cucumber, peppers and carrot, and cauliflower or broccoli florets are delicious with dips such as salsa or lower-fat cheese spread.
- Swap sugary snacks, such as biscuits, for a piece of fruit. There are lots of healthy snack ideas in the Change4Life snack swapper.
- Add beans, lentils and pulses to stews, bakes and salads. However much you eat, beans and pulses count as a maximum of one portion a day.
- Have a salad or vegetable side dish with your main meal. If you’re having shepherd's pie, have some peas too. If you’re having a roast dinner, add some carrots or broccoli to your plate.
- One glass (150ml) of unsweetened 100% fruit juice counts towards your 5 A DAY. Fruit or vegetable juice counts as a maximum of one portion a day.
- Make a quick smoothie in a blender using your favourite fresh or frozen fruits. A smoothie containing all of the edible pulped fruit or vegetable can count as up to two portions a day, depending on how it's made.
